Many people who traveled thousands of miles to hike, camp or paddle in a national park aren’t letting a government shutdown spoil their vacation. They’re finding there are ways around the park closures.

A study by the National Transportation Research Group says Tucson has some of the worst streets in the country.The study says 53 percent of major roads in the Tucson urban area are in poor condition. Those roads cost drivers $723 each year in additional vehicle operating costs.

Arizona State University’s football team was so successful last week in a win over USC, scoring 62 points in the victory, that the Trojans’ athletic director fired the team’s head coach. Saturday the Sun Devils will be in Dallas.

A federal judge struck down an Arizona law Friday that bans panhandling in public places. The judge says begging on city streets is constitutionally protected free speech.Judge Neil Wake’s ruling abolishes the statute that police and prosecutors have used to remove panhandlers from public places.

Let’s say you believe you have come up with an idea that’s going to revolutionize an industry—that you’ve figured out the next big thing. But you’ve checked your pockets, pretty empty. The savings account? There’s not much saved.

An Arizona
inmate is accused of running drugs from prison – and using female family
members and lovers to do it. Angel Lopez Garcia is an alleged gang leader who
faces 159 counts. Police say he directed drug sales, extortion, fraud and
murder from his prison cell in Florence.

Arizona Opera is throwing open the doors of its new building on Central and McDowell in Phoenix Friday – in advance of its first performance of the season next weekend. General Director Ryan Taylor says this is the first time the company has had all of its operations under one roof, and that there’s a sense of freedom and relief in the new digs.

Last week, federal officials began removing animals from the Las Vegas zoo after the entire zoo staff quit in protest. The small zoo has had a controversial history and is shutting its doors for good.The US Department of Agriculture stepped in after a complaint was filed over the care of the animals and the conditions at the zoo.

You probably know a lot about the summer of 1927 without even knowing it. Some of the 20th Century’s most noteworthy people did their most noteworthy things that year: Charles Lindbergh made his Atlantic flight; Babe Ruth made his assault on the home run record; and the first true "talking picture" was filmed, among other things.

As the temperatures cool down a little we head to another of the Valley’s hot corners — spots that have something going on. Today's tour guide is Kimber Lanning, Executive Director of Local First Arizona.

An iconic Southern Arizona landmark is celebrating a big anniversary this year — and it’s opening for the season Friday. I’ll spare you a really dreadful John Wayne impression and just say Old Tucson turns 75 years old.

New homes are back in a big way – literally. This summer, a typical new house in Phoenix was more than 20 percent larger than a resale home as builders across the country add more space to accommodate post-recession lifestyles.

Prickly Pear, Agave,
Cholla. These familiar names are cactuses we often see in the desert, and there are hundreds more cactuses of
various types in Arizona and across the Western hemisphere.
Cactuses in a bed at the Desert Botanical Garden.

Too little water and too many trees is a combination leading to mega-fires. Arizona's forest experts gathered to discuss solutions to the state's forest and watershed problems. The two-day Finding Solutions Conference, hosted by Salt River
Project in Scottsdale focused on investment
strategies to fund forest preservation.

A Yavapai County Superior Court jury has convicted a Prescott stockbroker of first-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of his ex-wife. The jury also found Steven DeMocker guilty of six other charges related to the 2008 death of Carolyn Kennedy.

Border Patrol Statistics show that illegal immigration along the Southwest border has shifted to the east in recent years. The number of people caught crossing the border illegally in Texas rose from 125,000 in fiscal 2009 to more than 225,000 this past fiscal year.

There may be fewer of those charity drop boxes you see in commercial parking lots around Phoenix. A new fee on the boxes goes into effect Jan. 1. Until the city council approved the new permitting fee this week there was no regulation on who could place those large collection boxes or where.

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